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06 Dec 2013
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has today released a research report on professional indemnity (PII) insurance for midwives.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) has today released a research report on professional indemnity (PII) insurance for midwives.
Currently, professional indemnity insurance (PII) products are not available in Australia for intrapartum care provided by midwives in private practice who attend homebirths. The research, which was funded by the National Board and undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), investigated professional indemnity insurance for midwives. The report and the National Board’s commentary on the research recommendations are now available on the National Board website under Media releases. National Board Presiding Member Dr Lynette Cusack said that addressing the gap in cover for privately practising midwives would address the needs of the woman and her infant/s, as well as those of the midwife. ‘The National Board would like to see insurance cover accessible to midwives practising in any setting across the continuum of care. This will boost positive outcomes for the woman, her infant/s and the midwife’, said Dr Cusack. ‘I encourage all midwives, and particularly privately practising midwives, to read the report and the National Board’s commentary on the recommendations’, said Dr Cusack.
Section 129 (1) of the National Law requires midwives to have appropriate PII arrangements for midwifery practice. A provision in section 284 of the National Law exempts those midwives in private practice who give services to women in a home birth setting from requiring PII cover for the intrapartum period. It is still a requirement that these midwives in private practice have insurance for both the antenatal and postpartum periods of a birth.
Download a PDF of this Media statement - National Board publishes research report on professional indemnity insurance for midwives - 6 December 2013 (194 KB,PDF), Word version (92.7 KB,DOCX)